WHEN ARABS DANCE–FREEP Film Festival

Filmmaker Jawad Rhalib uses dance as a lens to document diverse creative voices in the Muslim world and explore complex contradictions and conflicts that define Arab life in the 21st Century, as a new generation seeks to free itself from bonds of stereotypes and repression. Rhalib presents a bold corrective to narrow notions about what it means to be Muslim and offers a stirring testament to the power of art to reconfigure identity. Beginning with Rhalib’s memories of childhood shame regarding his mother’s belly dancing, the film quickly expands its purview from personal essay to cultural investigation.